Domaine Henri Germain Meursault ‘Limozin’ 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Wanna do a little deep dive into Meursault? Check out the article “Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 5 – The White Village of Meursault” in the Wine Bites Mag.

The youngest vines here are 35 years old, and Germain’s six parcels cross both the lower and upper (dessous and dessus) parts of the vineyard, although most are at the top of the climat abutting the Puligny Premier Crus. This is why certain experienced tasters claim that Germain’s Charmes is often his most ‘Puligny’ wine. Great growers tend to teach us that what we think we know about Burgundy may have as much to do with historical, political and economic factors as it does with any reality on the ground. In short—and it may be sacrilege to say so—a Meursault Charmes can be as great as a Perrières, especially if it comes from the right part of the vineyard and, if the grower is willing to do the hard work.

“I have been saying it for years but I will say it again: if you don’t know these wines, you should because the quality is just too good to ignore.”

Allen Meadows, Burghound

About Domaine Henri Germain

Last year, I argued that Domaine Henri Germain might well be Meursault’s best-kept secret, and this year, despite signs that the world is taking notice, I repeat that claim. This is a superb source for classically balanced, artisanal white Burgundy that’s built to age, and the softly spoken Jean-François Germain is justly one of the village’s most well-respected vignerons. The 2018 vintage has turned out very well at this address, and Germain describes it as “quite classic, with average acidities and no extremes of alcohol.” The wines are harmonious and charming, and they will be unusually approachable by Germain’s standards—no bad thing for readers new to this domaine who wish to acquaint themselves with its unimpeachably classical wines. I have reserved some 2018s for my own cellar, and I encourage readers who appreciate authentic Meursault to do the same. The wines reviewed here from barrel, which I tasted in November 2019, will be bottled in March-April 2020.

“Domaine Henri Germain might well be Meursault’s best-kept secret. This is a superb source for classically balanced, artisanal white Burgundy that’s built to age, and the softly-spoken Jean-François Germain is justly one of the village’s most well-respected vignerons.”

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Since Germain remains comparatively under the radar, it’s worth reiterating that viticulture here is organic and vinification decidedly traditional, the wines spending two winters in barrel on the lees, if possible without racking and almost invariably without bâtonnage. In the domaine’s cold cellars, alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are protracted, but Germain is content to take his time. The resulting wines are concentrated but incisive, with fleshy fruit but firm structural bones that demand time in the cellar. In the last decade, the style has become a little less austere and reductive, but the domaine remains old-fashioned in the best sense. Considering the quality to be found here, this seven-hectare estate deserves far greater celebrity, and though I suspect Germain isn’t especially interested in seeking out acclaim, it’s sure to arrive sooner rather than later.

If you have a little French, Jean-François explores the history of the Domaine in the flick below.

In the Vineyard

The Germain methods are very traditional with organic farming and low yields, we don’t have much info, but, given what’s in the glass he must be looking after the vineyard well.

In the Winery

It’s hard to find much about the Domaine’s winemaking practices. At the end of the day it’s what’s in the glass that matters.

However, there are a couple of insights I can glean from the info available. First, it’s clear from the potential alcohols, ranged from 12.5% to 13.5% in white and averaged 13% in red in the warmer 2018 vintage, that Jean-François’ vineyards yield flavour ripe fruit at this level, and he is picking to retain freshness and natural acidity. We should see reflected beautifully in the glass. Jean-François specifically spoke to the low pH and high natural acidity in his wines; there’s loads of science behind this, you can read about some of it in the Wine Bites Magazine article: Q&A with Paul: “Do winemakers need to add tartaric acid to keep it fresh and age-worthy?”

Second, Jean-François spoke of the long slow ferments at the domain, noting that many were still going 10 months into élévage. In a commercial winery a white wine fermented using cultured yeast instead of wild yeast will finish its ferment in a few weeks. Typically new world winemakers often get stressed out of their minds if ferments take much longer than this. However, over time with greater use of wild yeast in the new world, we’ve grown more comfort with longer slower ferments.

Alex Moreau of Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy joined me at Yering Station for the 1999 vintage. I can tell you one thing, diversity definitely leads to inspiration and creativity, particularly when you throw a young, motivated, thought leader with real world experience like Alex into the mix. What do you do with such an asset? Easy, you unleash them on some decent fruit, sit back and watch. When you’ve got 1400T of fruit to play with, what have you got to lose! Alex did a mini-experiment dragging out the ferments of 4 barrels of Chardonnay over just a couple of months. The end result? A build in mid-palate depth, a trait that differentiates good Chardonnay from great Chardonnay, presenting a more complete and even mouthfeel.

When I see long slow ferment from a European maker, thinking of this time and the impact on the wine takes me to a happy place.

The 2020 Vintage at Domaine Henri Germain

Burghound

Jean-François Germain told me that the 2020 growing season was “hot and dry with very little disease pressure, no real frost risk and no climatic incidences so overall, it was pretty easy. We picked from the 24h to the 31st of August though we waited until the 15th of September to harvest the aligoté. The fruit was very clean and yields were very good at between 45 to 50 hl/ha with solid potential alcohols of 13.5 to 14%. As to the wines, they are more classic in style than the 2019s if not necessarily better. The wines have excellent balance and terroir transparency plus they have that underlying tension that just makes you feel like drinking them.” I have long been a fan of the domaine, not only in terms of the intrinsic quality of the wines but also how pure they are, and 2020 only adds to that legacy.

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“But what of the 2020s? In short, they’re exceptional. Yields were good (“if someone offered me a deal whereby every vintage would work out like this, I wouldn’t hesitate to sign on the dotted line,” said Germain), and the wines are concentrated, chiseled and beautifully balanced. They’re worth a special effort to seek out.” 

Where in the World is Domaine Henri Germain?

Germain is based in Meursault with fruit coming from Chassagne-Montrachet and Beaune.